Wild Animal Sanctuary getting in animals from Puerto Rico zoo

KEENESBURG, Colo. — Dozens of animals from Puerto Rico’s only zoo are coming to Colorado. 

The zoo is permanently closing, and numerous animals there will be transferred to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg.

Puerto Rico’s zoo has been closed to the community since 2017, immediately after hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the island. Very last 7 days, the Puerto Rican governing administration claimed it would close permanently, soon after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Division of Justice. 

The Wild Animal Sanctuary experienced planned to rescue the substantial carnivores from Puerto Rico’s zoo in advance of the hurricanes strike. But there was so considerably hurt on the island, that course of action had to be put on maintain. Since then, many of the animals there have died due to the poor ailments.

Pat Craig, the government director of the Wild Animal Sanctuary, stated they’re going to consider in as several animals as they can, but some of the animals will need to go to other states since of Colorado’s cold local climate.

“Staying in Colorado, it is not a fantastic put for elephants, or rhinoceros, or hippos or primates that would have to expend the complete wintertime within of a developing,” Craig stated. “Our lions and tigers, surprisingly, acclimate quite very well to cold weather, but the primates and points like that need to go to sanctuaries that are in warmer climates, as effectively as the elephant.”

Finding the animals to Colorado is a process in by itself. Craig mentioned several of the herd animals and livestock can journey by boat. But most of the animals will fly to Colorado in specialised planes.

“These are huge cargo planes that are outfitted to consider animals, so they have pressurized cabins, and they are either heated or cooled, based on what time of year it is,” Craig mentioned. “We’ve flown lots of animals from all around the earth ahead of. We introduced a whole lot of animals from South The united states and also even South Korea and created massive airlifts like that, so we’re pretty common with performing this.”

The Wild Animal Sanctuary at the moment has about 700 animals during its locations. Their facility in Keenesburg is 1,200 acres, and is the only a single open to the community. The sanctuary also has a 10,000-acre facility in southeast Colorado in the vicinity of Springfield, and they just purchased 22,000 acres in northwest Colorado. 

Craig suggests people spots are not open to the community for the reason that they are so distant.

“Some of the habitats down there are 300-additionally acres in measurement, and it is all forested, so it is really rather neat to be in a position to see grizzly bears and black bears and all sorts of animals dwelling by natural means in these big habitats there. But it is so hard to get to that’s just not open to the community,” Craig reported.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary also has a specialized, 41-acre facility in the modest town of Boyd, Texas, in close proximity to Dallas.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a nonprofit, and relies on donations to assistance the animals and hold their functions jogging. You can donate on their web site.

“It really is usually wonderful to at last get them into the sanctuary in their new lives,” Craig mentioned. “And then you get to see the definitely superior facet of it, wherever they are recovered and performing very well.”

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